Favorite Fours From Industrious Implementors, 2G Recommendations by Walter Sandsquish Some I.F. writers write more than others. Here are my favorite four games from authors who've released at least half-a-dozen games to date. This list covers 2nd-generation text-adventure implementors, who published the bulk of their work from the Nineties on.
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1 . MacWesleyan (1995) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Neil deMause mocked school bureaucracy and campus oddities by sending the player on a quest to collect signatures to complete his enrollment.
2 . Undo (1995) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
deMause subverted the logic and aesthetics of adventure games with this Dada-like trip into absurdity and self-reference.
3 . Lost New York (1996) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
deMause took the player through New York's history with deft prose, engaging puzzles, and time-travel.
4 . The Frenetic Five vs. Sturm und Drang (1997) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
5 . So Far (1996) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Andrew Plotkin moved the player through surreal alternate dimensions, whose haunting, symbolic nature and disorienting, non-intuitive puzzles conveyed alienation.
6 . Spider and Web (1998) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Plotkin's espionage game depicted a grueling interrogation that revealed a backstory which set-up a remarkable gestalt puzzle.
7 . Hunter, in Darkness (1999) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Plotkin constructed a harrowing journey through a claustrophobic space where the player must learn through death.
8 . Hadean Lands (2014) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Plotkin dropped the player into a fascinating alchemical world where time and space had been fractured by an accident. Uniquely, the game allowed the player-character to learn the steps of a process and repeat them with a single command.
9 . The Underoos that Ate New York! (1994) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
G. Kevin Wilson's playfully absurd homage to monster movies was both fun and funny, if simple and sleight.
10 . The Lesson of the Tortoise (1997) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Wilson's interactive account of a marital betrayal exuded the charm and simple wisdom of Oriental folklore.
11 . The Sea of Night (1997) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Wilson required us to fathom the alieness of an organic spacecraft in order to survive a shipwreck.
12 . Once and Future (1998) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Wilson sent the player-character from the Vietnam War to Arthur's Avalon to the Faerie World to prevent a tragedy.
13 . Babel (1997) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Ian Finley took the player to an antarctic research station where the player-character learned to remember things he didn't want to recall.
14 . All Alone (2000) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Finley spooked us with an ominous TV broadcast in this eerie suburban horror story.
15 . Kaged (2000) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Finley channeled the player-character into a mind-numbing revelation in a bureaucratic dystopia. Music and illustrations enriched the effect.
16 . The Shadow in the Cathedral (2009) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Finley , with Jon Ingold, pulled the player into a world of intrigue, where clockworks are objects of worship.
17 . Arrival, or Attack of the B-Movie Clichés (1998) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Stephen Granade crafted a delightful tale of an alien invasion, as seen by a boy. Illustrations and sound effects enhanced the experience.
18 . Losing Your Grip (1998) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Granade dove into surrealism with this segmented, puzzle-heavy game about a drugged patient in a clinic.
19 . Child's Play (2006) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Granade created believable infant NPCs and some clever infant-motivated puzzles to go with them.
20 . Fragile Shells (2010) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Granade constructed a meticulous escape-the-room game concerning an astronaut in a dire situation.
21 . Little Blue Men (1998) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Michael Gentry unsettled players with this strange office story which developed into a sci-fi horror piece.
22 . Anchorhead (1998) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Gentry then unnerved us by providing clues to a hideous occult horror in this classic game.
23 . Jack Toresal and The Secret Letter (2009) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Gentry , with David Cornelson, had fun with this adventurous tale of an orphan getting entangled in politics.
24 . The Lost Islands of Alabaz (2011) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Gentry allowed the children to take charge in this charming story of a boy uniting a maritime kingdom.
25 . Muse: An Autumn Romance (1998) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Christopher Huang tranformed players into a Victorian cleric who fell in love with young woman.
26 . An Act of Murder (2007) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Huang generated a post-war mystery with a randomly-determined murderer and a detective who kept a meticulous notebook.
27 . Cana According To Micah (2011) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Huang asked players to set-up the water-into-wine miracle in this Biblical story.
28 . Sunday Afternoon (2012) Average member rating: Walter Sandsquish says:
Huang allowed a bored child to evade his aunt and uncle to play outside in this Edwardian puzzler.
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